Has anyone had luck with testing for the cause of seasonal allergies on their horse and then giving shots? My barn mates poor horse has EPIC allergies and once the pollen kicks in just sneezes non-stop for weeks. He’s miserable and riding is no fun when he’s like this… A friend suggested testing and shots but if they are expensive and don’t yield much satisfaction it probably isn’t worth it. Horse is 26 years old, in the last few years his allergies have really amped up, if she could find some relief for him I think she would try it…
At that age, i would consider low dose dexamethasone or prednisolone. Your talking $1200 (minimum) for allergy testing and shots. Has a vet been consulted?
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If you proceed with the testing, the vet at Texas A&M indicated the testing should be done during the peak of the horses allergies.
I did it and got good, if not perfect, results. That said, my horse was a lot younger so throwing the money at her seemed like the right thing to do.
Have your friend consider talking to her vet about antihistamines. I think they are safer than steroids and I’ve known a couple of people that use them during allergy season to really good effect.
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I did intradermal allergy testing with my girl and I’m glad I did. I think managing her environment is more beneficial than the shots, and knowing what some of her triggers are has been very helpful. She is very allergic to flies and no-seeums, so fly control is huge. She is also very reactive with alfalfa, so no hay or supplements that include it. When alfalfa does show up in a square bale, the coughing starts…easy enough to eliminate to make her comfortable.
Again, I’m glad I did it and if your friend does consider getting her horse allergy tested, intradermal is the way to go.
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I had an allergy test done on my horse, but did not treat with the shots. Thus far knowing his allergens and maintaining his environment has been enough. We’ll see how it goes this year when everything is growing and in bloom.
He does have an inhalor that helps if he gets swelling in his airway.
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My mare has had some pretty significant allergy issues in the past, but after moving around some I’ve narrowed down the environmental culprits a bit. Milkweed and cedar trees are an issue, and pretty much whatever else we have here that causes “hay fever.” I’ve never had her tested, since she’s managed really well with without. I sing the praises of Duralactin, it REALLY REALLY does work as an anti inflammatory!! Also, making sure you feed extra Vit E will help, I can tell when I’m not feeding it and she’s low, her allergy responses will be much worse.
I have a chestnut mare with seasonal head shaking, sneezing (will be every 30 seconds 24hrs/day), itchy/runny eyes and nose, and swollen lymph nodes. I used to start her on Duralactin in March/April, and keep her on it through October. She also gets to stand in her stall/run in the shade during the day when she wants, since she prefers that when the allergies are worse. Fly mask, sometimes a nose helps and sometimes it triggers the nerves, so I just see what she’s prefers.
I have used Dex when she’s had a particularly bad time, for hives. She also gets eaten terribly by the blood sucking midges compared to other horses, so a fly sheet at night when they’re out.
You had horses in the barn used to get covered in hives. Once in a while they would give an allergy shot and the hives would disappear instantly. But it wasn’t uncommon for them to come back a few days later. Sometime
My friend did allergy testing on her horse and he was allergic to 50 different things including his hay. However I know I’m there who had allergy testing turned out she was allergic to orchard grass.But she was not allergic to alfalfa or 10th. So now she just buys an alfalfa Timothy blend but never orchard grass hay. For that mare allergy testing was very helpful.
Thanks all, pretty sure the allergies are things we can’t do much about. We are going to try an herbal supplement as none of the regular medications seem to help much. Worst case he just sneezes for weeks…
I’ll admit that the horse with allergies that I mentioned above does sneeze more during work than the average horse and I’m not sure that I can change that without the shots, but it doesn’t really get in the way, but I suppose it depends on how much the horse is sneezing.
Which regular medications have been tried?
Having MSM and Omega 3’s (my horse gets flax oil or seeds) can help with allergies and is fairly inexpensive.
I also know that some people have had success with giving their horse Zyrtec.
For me if the horse is sneezing more, but not excessively or to the point that it’s a distraction, isn’t congested, doesn’t have discharge, and isn’t coughing, then I’m not so bothered.
We’ve tried zyrtec, benadryl and Trihyst . The sneezing is actually problematic as it is so severe it makes him hard to ride and frankly he’s miserable. The supplement we’re going to try has MSM in it so hopefully it will help.
I am jealous! I wish managing environment was an option, but the damn trees and wild flowers will hork their pollen around like they don’t even care about my poor pony. On the bright side, mosquitoes lit her up like she was on fire. “Does she normally get welts from bug bites?” “Nope. I used to ride in a swamp. I know how to apply chemicals.” lol True story, the dermatologist was shocked she’d never had more than one or two lumpy bug bites in her life. Better living through chemistry.
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….well fly spray and throwing on a fly sheet is managing part of her environment.
Um, no. Marinating her in fly spray is managing her, not her environment. If I could spray for mosquitoes, that would be managing the environment. That might be splitting hairs a bit, but to say managing the environment is a possibility, maybe even better than allergy shots is silly for things like tree pollens, weed pollens, and other air borne allergens that travel miles. Cutting down all the offending trees on the property won’t help when there are woodlots within a few hundred metres, for instance. The only choice in these cases is managing the horse, not the environment unless one is willing to move to some magic place where there is nothing that bothers the horse. Mine says it’s California. I reminded her there were still pine trees in California. She said, BUT I’M NOT ALLERGIC TO THOSE PINE TREES, I PROMISE. I said, you keep dreaming and I’ll keep buying lottery tickets. lol
Managing things like dust mite allergies, bedding allergies, etc., those are doable in terms of managing the horse’s environment. A lot of the big nasties, not so much so it comes down to how to manage the horse. Not showing or racing - try the anti-histamine/steroid route. Showing or racing - allergy shots are worth a try.
p.s. I have found no need for fly sheets with proper application of fly spray. My horse is way happier marinated in chemicals than wearing a fly sheet even though she LOVES her fall, winter, and spring wardrobes.
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I had my horse dermal tested and just started on the allergy shots. The vet/ allergist did tell me that it might take a year to know if they are helping my mare. However, the shots were not very pricey ($142 for the start up series of shots) and are very easy to administer. They are sub cutaneous—-using tiny needles so the horses hardly notice you are giving the shot. We are about 6 weeks away from going onto the maintenance schedule (which is a shot once per month). I definitely think it’s worth trying if it’s going to help give my mare some relief. I’m not sure where the other poster got the pricing of $1500 per year. I can’t remember how much the dermal test was (because they did other diagnostics that day too). But I’m going to guess it was about $300.
Thanks slp2…
Bumping this up, islgrl, curious as to what supplement you were going to try and if its helping your horse at all?
Alsowondering, does anyone have any experience with Equishield SA powder?
We put the horse on Smartbreathe - he is clearly benefiting from it, while the sneezing is not gone, it has diminished greatly in severity at a time when pollen is clearly ramping up.
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Curious whether allergy shots would be beneficial for “grass glands.” My young horse has them year round except for the dead of winter. It seems to be from eating short shoots of grass. He’s in a pasture that is overgrazed, but since I board, there is not an easy solution to that (and I’m glad that it’s not a mud pit).
Ah, I’ve tried Smartbreathe as well, glad its helping your horse, that’s great!
